July 27, 2024

Kentwood Place Multi-Purpose Residential Development Planned for Baker Road

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Kentwood Place, a business and 17-unit residential development, is coming to 3165 Baker Rd. and 8200 Forest St. after Dexter City Council approved the plan 4-2 in its meeting on July 22.

Applicant for the new development Pamela Byrnes Brown presented its features at a public hearing held by the Dexter Planning Commission on July 1. The commission unanimously recommended the development to Council for approval.

The five-building development is set to take up about three-quarters of an acre across the street from the post office. The land use will include townhouse units, micro units, stacked flats, and duplex buildings as well as live-work units on the Baker Road front.

“We worked to take design inspiration from nearby structures and have worked to unite the proposed development to the broader neighborhood character,” Brown said at the July 1 meeting.

Garages will take up space, while a new 360 square foot pocket park with a pedestrian plaza on the land will be open to the public. The development is adjacent to public parking.

Councilmembers Jamie Griffen and Zach Michels voted against allowing the new development. They voiced concerns with the layout and spacing during Council’s July 22 meeting.

“It feels extremely awkward how the buildings relate to each other,” Michels said. “We have places where the front of a building is looking at the side of a building… It’s difficult for me to see (where) the garages (fit).”

Council had to consider the development because of conflict with current city zoning. Developers applied for a planned unit development (PUD.) PUD exceptions require the development to prove beneficial to the community.

“Those microunits are filling a void in our variety of housing and I think it’s something that could be very helpful to either the population who is graduating or trying to get jobs here,” Councilmember Wa-Louisa Hubbard said. “It fills an important void… I would rather have that option there for people– and there will be people who take it– even if it is an awkward layout because there is none of that type of housing here now.”